All'improvviso Amore
by A Flaming Moon
Summary: Jim does not understand why he is an Outcast. But, a brawl with a bully pairs him up with Dolphy, a girl with a kickbutt attitude. Dolphy is an artist, and gets picked on because of it.Will love blossom between the two? HAITUS
1. Outsider

**Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet (Sniff) nor do I own Dolphy. She is owned by the animation artist (one of my favorites) named Dolphy (hence the OC's name).**

Chapter 1 – Outsider

Jim left his last class before lunch with haste. He wanted to make the line and find a seat before all the crowds came in. He would _never_ be able to find a seat, or have anything good afterwards if everyone else got in front of him. Why, though? Why wouldn't anyone want to sit with the boy who traveled to the other side of the galaxy to get to loot from imagination, and not only that, to find that he would be mutinied by one of his close friends, not to mention a _cook_? Jim sighed, and was thankful he reached the line with only a few students in front of him.

He bought a cheese sandwich and got one of the benches outside under the sun, just outside the cafeteria. He was thankful he was able to get something good. Jim took out his book and flipped to his spot, and began reading. "Hey Jessica," a boy's voice filled the air.

"It's Dolphy," another voice snapped. Jim looked up and saw the black haired Carren picking on a young girl, no older than him. The girl, who was sitting on the bench farther down the walkway, had wavy locks of brown hair, with two strands hanging on each side of her face, her green eyes content and focused on the sketch she had in her lap. She wore a blue shirt with a darker blue jacket over top it and dark brown pants, similar to Jim's. He had seen her around campus quite a bit, during lunch and break, but, he didn't have any classes with her. When he did see her, though, she always had her nose in that sketchbook. "Now, leave me alone, vacuum-brain."

"Ooh," Carren responded, and snatched the sketchbook from under the girl's nose, "come on, sweet-heart! Just take it!" The girl stopped jumping for it and her hands at her sides were stiff and were balled into fists.

"Damn idiot, give me back my book, or I'm gonna-."

"Gonna what, sweetie," Carren whistled and chuckled afterwards, "get your rubber there and get at me? Come on, Jessica."

"Fool, it is Dolphy!" She snapped, which only gave her a hard slap across the face, which knocked her off her feet and to the ground. She moved from her side to her back, whispering a curse under her breath. She coughed, trying to get the sudden shock out of her mind, and air into her lungs. Jim made his move, and jumped in front of Carren and the girl before he could hurt her again.

"Didn't your mother teach you to pick on people your own size, Carren?" Jim asked, getting up in Carren's face. He snatched the sketchbook from his hands, and looked back at the girl, but in doing so, gave him a punch in the gut, and he fell next to her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" the girl so-called Dolphy said, sitting up, and putting a protective hand on Jim's shoulder. Carren looked down on this sight with a cheesy smile.

"Lead it up to Hawkins to do something really stupid, like help a girl named after a creature that flies in the skies away from civilization. One who draws petty pictures," Carren kicked the sketchbook out of Dolphy's hands and laughed when it flew into the air and into the puddle down the way. "Later, Dolphin," Carren sneered and stalked off.

"Bastard," Dolphy snapped, and helped Jim up before going to her sketchbook, "God knows how much I hate him," she snapped. She turned back to Jim and grabbed his arm, helping him pull him up. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jim answered pulling himself up and brushing off the dust. "Are you?"

"Bastard thinks he owns the place," she snapped, "other than that, fine. I'm Jessica Dolphers, but my friends call me Dolphy, that is, if I did have any friends."

"You do now," Jim said. She looked at him with a green gaze. "Jim Hawkins."

"Nice to meet you," The bell interrupted them from their chat, and they both sighed in unison.

"Are you busy after class?" Jim asked. She shook her head, and began to walk into the building, "would you like to meet up afterwards and just, you know, chat?" She chuckled, and then looked at her books.

"I would like that," she said, "I guess that this academy is the worst thing anyway, now, that is." She smiled at him and walked inside, from his view. Jim made a small sigh of relief, collected his books, ran to class, and went the rest of the school day thinking of what they should talk about.

………………………………………………………………..

**Wow, that took me a while…anyway…like I said up top…I do not own Dolphy, so please do not tell me she is a cool character, I know she is. The real Dolphy designed her to kick ass, so, that is what I did!**


	2. After Class

**Sorry, but I forgot the translation for the title. **_**All'Improvviso Amore**_** is Italian and is literally translated to **_**An Improvising Love**_**. Sorry about that. Here is the next chapter! **

Chapter 2 – After Class

Jim waited outside for Dolphy to come around, which she did, a key in her hand. For some reason, she had changed her shirt. It was now black with the pirate flag design on it. "Hey," she said with a smile. He smiled back and led her through the bushes to the Academy's park. There were a range of colors in the dim sunlight. Dolphy was ready to go home, by her looks, but, she followed Jim, whispering where they were going every so often. He would smile and wave them off.

"We're here," he said. They were in a small section of the park Dolphy knew, "found it the other day. Great place to come when you need a breather," he said, taking her hand gently in his own and guiding her past the pond to the bench. They sat down next to each other.

"This is pretty cool," she said, taking in the surroundings, "sure beats living with those morons I call roommates. Picture this," she said, moving her body position so she could face him clearly, "A feline with a mutt and a crow for buddies, all with really bad attitudes." Jim chuckled at her explanation.

"Wow, poor you," he said with a chuckle. Dolphy blushed slightly.

"They hate girls who don't like having boyfriends, who enjoy being alone, and who hate skirts and stuff like that, well, to sum it all up, _me_," she said, placing a hand on her chest.

"I am curious, how did you get caught up with Carren?" Jim asked. Dolphy, to his surprise, let a small smile pull at her lips.

"When I first came here, he said he was interested in me. He asked me to go out, and I did, I was in need for a friend. Soon after I found out that he didn't care about me, all he wanted was to get into my pants, which one day, he tried to do," she smiled and blushed after meeting Jim's somewhat shocked look. "All he got was a crack where the sun doesn't shine." Jim laughed out loud at that, and Dolphy blushed. "I best be going," she said, with a smile. "Chemistry was a killer on homework."

"See you tomorrow at lunch?" he asked, hoping she would say yes, and, to his joy, she nodded and gave him thumbs up. She left and he could hear the power-up of a solar surfer, and she was gone, just like that. Jim smiled to himself, got up, and left as well.


	3. Artist

Chapter 3 – Artist

The next day, to Jim's surprise, Dolphy was not there. Was it because she didn't trust him? Jim didn't think so. She had followed him into the park, right? Maybe Carren got to her again? No, he would come and brag about how he beat up on the poor girl to him. Something inside his gut told him something was definitely wrong. Jim sat at his bench and read his book and nibbled on his sandwich. Even his favorite book on Captain Flint couldn't satisfy him.

"That girl is such a wimp," a voice hissed behind him. Jim kept his nose in his book, but listened in. The voice sounded like Carren. "A simple scratch down the arm makes her skip out a day." Yup, that was Carren.

"Who names herself after an _animal_?" a female voice hissed. It was relatively deep, so, if they were talking about Dolphy, it would be the dog, the mutt, as Dolphy had called her. Jim couldn't help but let a smile pull at his lips. "Dolphy? I mean, come _on_!" Jim's smile faded.

"She cries over a cut down her arm, and then fights to clean it up afterwards!" This voice was also female, but, squawky, like a bird. The crow, probably, "I do not understand those things called _humans_, no offence to you or your buddies, Carren." A chuckle, unmistakably Carren's voice, filled the air, and then soft murmurs. He couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Well, they say that her brother was killed in a pirate raid, and then, she is absolutely fascinated by them! Who does that? Her parents sent her here because they were sick of her constant gazing and studying of pirates," said a hissy voice. It was female, of course, but, by the way she spoke, acted as if she owned the pack. This was probably the cat, the "feline". "Sick freak."

"That Hawkins fellow, too," Carren's voice yet again, "he protected her yesterday."

"So what?" the Crow asked.

"They could band together," said Carren. The entire group, including Carren, burst into laughter, saying "Yeah right" or "Whatever". They passed Jim without noticing him. Something told him to run down to her rooms. Maybe she was there. Or maybe she was at the infirmary. No, Dolphy would be at home. The teachers didn't believe outsiders, and one such as Dolphy, they wouldn't understand, and blow it out of proportion.

Before he knew it, he was at her room, the door was locked, and he could hear silent weeps inside. He knocked on the door, and they instantly stopped. "Dolphy, it's me," he said, loud enough for her to hear. He could hear silent footsteps, and the clicking of a lock. When it opened, he had to try hard to stifle a gasp. Dolphy had scratches on her face, and down her arm it looked like a large claw raked through it.

"What do you want?" she snapped. Jim could see the red lines down her face that showed her tears, still following that same river down.

"Are you Ok?" he asked, gently taking her arm in his hand. She instantly pulled it back, and winced doing so.

"Stay away from me!" she yelled, slamming the door in his face. He didn't hear it the click of the clock doing its job this time.

"Dolphy, what's wrong?" he asked through the crack of the door.

"Go away," she said bluntly. Jim moved forward and placed his forehead on the wood of the door and sighed. He could hear her crying again.

"Hey," he whispered, loud enough to be heard, soft enough to sound sincere, "come on, Dolphy." She didn't answer to that, so, he sighed again and kept on going, "you do have a friend now, me." Her crying went away slowly, and he stepped back as the door opened. She stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his chest, and wept. "It's ok," he soothed, wrapping his arms around her, "it's ok."

After a few moments standing there, he finally coughed slightly and moved her so he could see her, "come with me to my room," she went stiff, "I have some bandages and cleaning serum in my room," he said with a chuckle. She chuckled slightly and followed him to his room.


	4. Truth Be Told

Chapter 4 – Truth Be Told

Jim led Dolphy to his room, collected his materials, and sat her on his bed. She was sitting there, watching him with her green gaze, but, every so often, she would revert back to the sketchbook, which looked tattered with blood stains, and sketched, with her free hand. "Do you, at all, not have your book with you?" he asked, bringing them over.

"Good way to relieve stress," she answered with a smile, "wow, you sure are equipped for an emergency," she said, noticing the bandages and the alcohol to clean it. He took her arm gently in his hands and spread the liquid onto her hand. She grunted in pain, but, sighed when he finished tying the bandage around her arm. He took a cotton ball and gently tapped each small cut with the alcohol.

"Ya' need it when you are testing out your own designs for a solar surfer," he said, placing everything back in the chest at the foot of his bed. Her eyes lit up as if it was Christmas.

"A solar surfer designer, huh?" she said, "You should be with the 'inner crowds'. You can get major bucks off of that." Jim shrugged, "and artist, like me, well, we deserve to be outcasts. We are not so good people persons, and that is why we sketch."

"Can I see?" he asked.

"Sure," she shrugged, and he sat down behind her, leaning over her shoulder to look at it. She had sketched out a picture of a dolphin jumping out of the water. "They are my favorite animals," she said. He took the sketchbook from her hands and looked throughout the pages. Each one was either a silver lion with the jumping dolphins on her forehead, or of herself, and/or as a pirate. "I love them. Pirates, I mean." She said.

_Well, they say that her brother was killed in a pirate raid, and then, she is absolutely fascinated by them!_

Jim shook his head, trying to push their words out of his head. "Are you ok, Jim?" she asked.

"Yeah," he placed his hand to his head, "how did that happen?" he motioned to her arm. She looked at in, and winced as she tried to lift it up.

"Give you three guesses, but, I believe you only need one," she snarled. He sighed.

"Roommates?" she nodded.

"Mutt-face did the ones on my face, Feline on my arm, along with Crow. They saw me drawing on my bed, apparently Carren told them everything. He asked them for a little help, and well, they sure gave it to him." She shuddered slightly, and leaned against him. But, she did it before she could correct herself. "Sorry," she said quickly, pulling herself up. With a sigh, Jim grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back into the position she was in.

"It's alright," he said.

Dolphy smiled and nudged herself closer.

"Can I ask something?" he whispered. She nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Why did you come here in the first place? The academy?" he asked. He could feel her stiffen against his chest. "I overheard some girls," he didn't dare mention their names or whether they were human or not, "say that your brother was killed in a pirate raid."

"It was Vivian, wasn't it?" she asked with a sigh.

"Yes."

"She is right, but, what else did you hear?" Wrong turn! Jim yelled at himself in his mind.

"Nothing," he lied. "Just overheard their talk during lunch. Carren was with them."

"Bastard," she cursed under her breath, and laughed out loud. Jim followed suit, glad the tension I the air was gone. "I don't know why they fascinate me. Maybe it was because they killed the one person I hated, before Carren?" He was glad he got to spend the rest of the day with Dolphy. She explained about her past, and bugged him about his solar surfer projects.

"If you do need anything," Jim said as Dolphy insisted that she leave and go back to her own room, "I'm here." She smiled and turned to face him. Her face still had the cuts, but, the alcohol had helped clean it out a bit. She stood there in the doorway, before she blushed and smiled again with a small chuckle.

"Thanks, Jim," she said, before stepping out and closing the door behind her.


	5. God Save Me!

Chapter 5 – God Save Me!

Dolphy walked back to her rooms after her meeting with Jim a bit reluctantly. She had to admit to herself that she liked his presence more often then her own solitary self. She pulled out her key and slid it into the lock, thankful that there was no one in the room. Blood still spattered the floor, and with a sigh, she cleaned it up. Surprisingly, Vivian and the others never came into the room, until late that night.

When they came in, she was sitting on her bed, sketching out a picture with a small smile pulling at her lips. They were chatting on their normal crap: boys and the disco off campus. They saw her there, which to them was not right, and gasped.

"Where have you been all day?" the white cat with blonde hair and blue eye shadow named Vivian asked. She wore her normal outfit, a red spaghetti top that cut at her waist, but still showed her silver fur, and brown pants. Dolphy ignored her and continued her sketch. Angry with this, Vivian stormed forward and snatched the sketchbook from her hands and looked at the drawing. "What's this?"

"Give that back!" Dolphy ordered. Meena, the golden crow with slicked back brown hair ran up with Stella, the brown haired, cream furred mutt ran up and held her arms back. Dolphy was helpless against the three of them. She managed to pull herself out of Meena's grip, but she grabbed her arm again. "Let go of me!"

"What do you have to hide?" Meena screeched into Dolphy's ear. Dolphy thrashed in the arms of her captors, but, there was no use. They had her pinned. "What is it, Vivian?" She asked with a rude smile on her face. Vivian burst into laughter and showed them the sketch. That got Dolphy to thrash even more.

"The human girl has a crush!" they all screamed and looked at the drawing. It was Jim and herself, just the outlines, but, you could tell who was who. It was a profile of the two of them, both of them looking in separate directions, but, the look on their faces explained it all. The three alien girls burst into laughter as they saw the etched looks in their faces. "How sick!" Vivian threw the sketchbook into the wall, and the grip on Dolphy faded, and she thrashed her way until she was free and she ran to her book, quickly making sure all the pages were alright.

"Wow, Dolphin," Meena said, clenching her side gently, "you really are the most pathetic creature in the etherium!" Dolphy sat there, glad that her book was alright and glared down at her roommates.

"You're one to talk!" Dolphy snapped back.

"Yeah, you and your little," Stella stepped forward, grabbing a silver lioness with the same design on its forehead as the lioness in her sketches, "_lioness_," all the girls burst into laughter at this, and watched as Dolphy snatched her lioness back and held her tight to her chest.

"Leave me alone," Dolphy growled, she had her green gaze tightly closed, and tears forced their way out of the corner of her eyes. "Stop!" She whimpered.

"Poor human girl!" they cried, "she is in love with Jim Hawkins!" that pushed Dolphy to the limit. She grabbed her things, clothes, and the lioness and her sketchbook and ran. "Hey, where are you going?!" they screamed as she ran. "Dolphin?!"


	6. Ignorance

Chapter 6 – Ignorance

Dolphy returned to her rooms late at night, sketchbook and all. She had been at the counselor's office, but when she told the story of what Vivian and the others did to her arm and how they tormented her, he laughed, saying that those girls were "_role-students who would never do such a thing_". When Dolphy asked for a room, he merely laughed and said that he wouldn't do such a thing to a girl like her. Her parents didn't care about her, and so, she couldn't get a new room for herself. Dolphy sighed and left straight to the somewhat comfort of her bed.

The next day was slow for Dolphy. Everything went by so slowly, and when lunch finally came around, she was so depressed she could kill herself, but, seeing Jim's face for some odd reason, lightened her day, like it was never dark at all. He smiled warmly at her and sat down.

"So, how's your arm?" he asked.

"Much better, thank you," she said, "are you ok?" She did not want those words to come out in that sort of tone: Love-hearted. He smiled and looked down at the sketch in her lap. Now, the entire world was falling down around Dolphy. It was the one of her and him together.

"You did this?" he asked, looking at her, she nodded weakly. "It's good," To her surprise and to his own, he scooted next to her so that their legs were touching. She didn't move, but, moved closer to him. They spent the rest of lunch like that, going over her sketches, and talking quietly. People looked at them, and whispered behind hands, but, Dolphy and Jim ignored them. "After school again?" She nodded and ran back in, clutching her books to her chest.

"Are you dating Hawkins now, Dolphin?" a sneering voice asked. Dolphy whipped around and saw Carren standing there, with Lenaro, one of his blonde buddies, with the animal 3, Vivian and her posse. When Dolphy turned around and continued on her way up to her next class, it enraged Carren, and he ran up to her and grabbed her by the back of the neck.

"Let me go, Carren, unless you want another kick," she snapped.

"You think that I can't stand one of those little "attacks" again?" he snapped, squeezing her neck. With a quick movement, she brought her arm out behind her, punching him in the eye, and then brought her legs back and cracked him in his own private place. When he doubled over, he let her go, and she stood there, in front of him, laughing.

"No, I don't think you can stand one of my 'attacks'," she said, chuckling, and Dolphy left for her next class. "Good-bye, Carren." Tauntingly, she walked away, laughing her head off. She would definitely tell Jim about this.


	7. Mission Impossible

Chapter 7 – Mission Impossible 

"Miss Jessica?" a voice asked one day about three weeks after the incident with Dolphy's arm. Dolphy turned around and saw one of her teachers walking towards her. In her hand was a note. "Miss Jessica, this is for you. It explains that you are one of the selected few to go into a space flight to help heighten your space flight abilities.""_Selected few_?" Dolphy asked. The teacher nodded, and in dear hope that none of the feline's and Carren's posse would be there. She took the note and nodded her thanks, opening it as she walked down the hall to her own solar surfer her parents had bought her so she would get out of the house and stay away from them. The note was a formal note, one she nearly torn to pieces.

_Dear Miss Jessica Dolphers,_

_You have been authorized by the Academy's board to travel with our very own Captain Amelia for a deep space mission to train yourself for controlling a crew and learning how to sail a ship in space. You will be trained by a captain and a crew that had graduated from this school not too long ago. You, out of thousands, have been selected along with ten other students with perfect grades, to travel and learn for two months with your classmates._

_Congratulations again,_

_The Interstellar Academy_

With a sigh, she folded it into her pocket and walked down to her solar surfer and Jim. He was waiting for her by her surfer, with a big smile on his face and a letter in hand. She smiled and walked down and hugged him, like they normally did nowadays. "So," he said, shaking his letter in the air.

"You were invited to soar with the stars for two months?" she asked. His smile broadened and she knew that the trip wouldn't be bad at all with him with her. "Perfect," she smiled back at him, and he put his arms around her shoulders and she took his hand on the other side. A growl appeared to their left as they walked the surfer towards the street to the dorm rooms. Carren sat there, with his buddies and Vivian's gang surrounding him, his fresh black eye reflected some of the sunlight. The look in his eyes, complete and utter pain filled them, and a larger smile graced Dolphy's face. He grunted at her and looked as if he would kill her. She smiled and waved back.


	8. So Not Hell

Chapter 8 – So Not Hell

Jim and Dolphy sat at port with the other students, waiting for the Captain to arrive and come on board. Jim had told her about this "Captain Amelia", saying he had met her on his trip to Treasure Planet. She laughed in some parts, gasped in others, and grabbed him in a comforting hug when he told her about Mr. Arrow's death. There were always eyes on them, as they sat on the railing on a side of the sip next to the shrouds, but, they ignored them and continued on their story.

To their despise, Carren had been invited, as well as Vivian and Stella, but, from all of the other students along on this trip, they were the ones that Dolphy and Jim despised the most. After receiving cold glares from them, Jim finished up his story of his trip of the _Legacy _and with Captain Amelia. "Captain!" they heard a voice call out and everyone got up and watched as the graceful cat Captain Amelia board the ship.

"Stand down and return to your posts," she ordered. She looked around and saw Jim, her green cat-slit eyes large with joy and happiness. She walked over to Dolphy, who shadowed behind Jim slightly, and Jim as well, "Mr. Hawkins, how nice it is to see you again," she said, shaking his hand. Her eyes drifted over to Dolphy, taking in the figure of this new girl, "and who may this be?" Jim moved out of the way so Dolphy could be seen totally by the Captain.

"Jessica Dolphers, Captain," Dolphy said, sounding as if she was born on the ship, "I go by the name of Dolphy."

"And that you will," Amelia said. She turned to Jim, a question lingering in her eyes, and he shook his head, a mocking look in his eyes. Amelia left with a bow to consult the other new passengers including her new crew. Dolphy turned to Jim, who was chuckling slightly, and slapped him friendly on the arm.

"What was that about, huh?" she demanded, not helping to let a smile pull at her lips. Jim shook his head, "What? Come on? What did you mean by that?" Jim ruffled her hair, and she bent down trying to get out of his grip. He stopped and watched as she fixed her hair. _Jerk_…she thought in her mind. The actual crew was on board, looking around the ship, and starting to untie the solar sails.

"Loose all solar sails!" Lieutenant Cray called out next to Captain Amelia. With a smile, the two split up to look over the ship and help where needed. "Brace up!" Dolphy went to the direction of the shrouds, again, and watched. Jim was at the front, tying a ship down, as if he had done this so many times before. Dolphy chuckled and remembered the supernova, and shuddered. She hoped that nothing that bad would come along during this trip, but on the bright side, if something did happen, she could send Carren over the side with Vivian and say that it was an "accident". She smiled to herself, and turned her attention to the sails, and how long they looked up. "Brace yourself, girl," the Lieutenant snapped from the balcony above her. Dolphy followed her instructions and when they blasted off, many of the men came flying past her, and against the wall. She chuckled to herself and walked forward. Jim met her and took her hand in his.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I have flown before, Jim," she said with a chuckle, "How do you think I got to the Academy?" They both chuckled, when a loud laugh came up behind them. The twirled around, hands still in hand, and saw Carren and Vivian come up. "What do you want, buzz-brain?" Dolphy snapped.

"You too are disgusting," Carren said. Jim and Dolphy looked at each other and burst into laughing.

"Good insult, Carren!" Jim said, between laughs.

"You are one to talk, Carren!" Dolphy answered, wiping away a tear that fell down her face from laughter. She noticed the black eye was still there from her punch. She burst out into laughter again, "wearing that black eye as a charm now?" He looked as if he was going to punch her, but, a cough from some of the crewmen aboard made him change his mind.

"Mind you," Vivian hissed, before stalking off with Carren.

"You did that to him?" Jim asked with a laugh. She nodded and burst out laughing too. "Wow."

"He attacked me, so, I gave him the new eye and did you notice his voice was a pitch or two higher?" Dolphy asked. Jim looked at him with a dark look, finally picturing what was said, and they walked back over to the shrouds, where they both climbed up and watched the space whales swim in the night sky. Jim and Dolphy always had one hand with each other.


	9. Whispered Words

Chapter 9 – Whispered Words

"Why do you want to deal with such losers? They aren't worth the time or the effort."

"I don't care…I want them to suffer, especially Dolphers. What she did to me, how she-,"

"Oh, how she hurt your pride? Come on Carren, you are tougher than that! All you have to do is beat the shit out of her, nothing more!" Carren, Vivian, and Stella were in the crew's mess hall, where they were alone, except for the cook, who of which was paying no attention to them. It was Stella who had jumped in when Carren was speaking, but, what she told him did sound perfect for all of them. Maybe Dolphers did need the shit beaten out of her.

"No, I want both of them to suffer," Carren said, "we are going to be landing on a small planet where we will break up into groups of twos, one group will have three, taken that we do not have enough people, and I am next to positive that Dolphers and Hawkins will join up."

"What are you thinking?" Vivian asked.

"A trap," he said, thinking it over, "Get them separated."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was Dolphy's turn for lookout duty, and she sat there, intent on finding something before it attacked the ship. Jim had offered, and then ordered her to let him stay up with her, but she wouldn't let him, and pushed him to bed. Reluctantly, he did go. The night was cool and crisp, and her blue jacket was warm against her skin. The stars were beautiful in deep space, but, her mind wasn't on the stars. It was on Jim.

Whenever she was around him, she felt safe and happy, and not the outcast that she was. She could talk to him about whatever was bothering her, and feel more than comfortable about it. She smiled to herself and continued her lookout. Pictures and words filled her mind, of her and Jim together, but, something nagged at her at the back of her mind: did he feel the same way about her?

"Does he?" she asked herself, but, pushed it away. She couldn't think about that. What he had asked her back in his rooms came into her mind. Nope, she never did go anywhere without her sketchbook. She had finished a full notebook already within the past week they have been on the ship, and she started a new one, which already had numerous pictures of Jim and herself, along with her lioness.

She was thankful that she and Jim, who had paired up with each other for the Botany survival challenge, were put together in the same room. It didn't bother her, and it didn't seem as if it bother Jim at all. Early the first morning, she had met the little creature he called Morph. She was asleep, and felt something against her face.

"Five more minutes, Mom," she whimpered, falling back into sleep. She heard a growl, and then felt a tugging at her hair. She opened her eyes and saw these big black eyes surrounded by pink protoplasm, and instantly awoke and screeched. Jim awoke and saw the two, and merely laughed. "What the hell is that?" she asked. She poked at it and it formed into a little her on her finger.

"What is that?" He mimicked.

"He's a morph. He was given to me a while back by a real close friend," Jim said. The pink blob flew over to him and pushed its face against Jim's, who chuckled and rubbed the back of the…thing, "and yes, his name is Morph." The pink blob chirped and rubbed its face against her like it had Jim and she smiled.

Morph was with her now, at the Crow's Nest, resting on her shoulder and cooing silently to her and herself. It was as if he could feel her feelings, and Dolphy chuckled. She rubbed the back of the blob of protoplasm and continued her gaze on the stars and on her sketch.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

After the "squabble" he and Dolphy had, Jim surrendered and went to his room he shared with Dolphy. It didn't bother him at all, in fact, when he saw his name on the door with hers under it, and not Carren, he was about ready to scream he was so happy.

As he sat on his bed, unable to fall to sleep, his thoughts drifted to Dolphy, not knowing that she was doing the same above him. She was beautiful, of course, but the fact that she had out-smarted Carren in his own game made her irresistible. When he first saw her sketch of him and her together, she blushed and instantly went dark from him, but now, whenever she finished, she called his name and would show it to him.

But were they still friends? Something in the way she moved made her feel like more than a friend to Jim. She never seemed to not like holding hands or hugging each other. In fact, Jim wondered if he should ask to be more than friends, and get her input on the idea. What if she was only playing the part and it was a prank by Carren and his goons? No. He wouldn't have allowed her to clobber him like that. It would hurt his pride.

The fact that _she_ gave that to him made a smile pull at his lips. Had she done that in private, or in front of everyone? Probably in front of everyone, Jim thought. That was when he would most likely try to get her in trouble, with other people there to view it and to get confirmation if something did happen to "His Highness". But, if he had, why didn't she get in trouble? Surely he would get revenge and tell a teacher, or someone who could get her seriously hurt. Why didn't he even try? The teachers would listen to Carren over Dolphy anyway.

Jim pondered on that thought for a while until he fell into sleep.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Captain Amelia of the RLS _Inheritance,_ after appointing who would stand and watch on the ground and in the Crow's Nest, retired to her rooms, a small thought troubling her mind: well, three thoughts actually. The first was of a nebula that was showing signs of…danger. Things that she was told to look out for, but, not completely abandon. She was told that some of these students needed discipline. The thought was driving her crazy, and as she pulled off her boots and gloves, she sat down on her bed, thinking of what else this trip had brought her.

Dolphy, Mr. Hawkins' acquaintance, was someone different indeed. She had pictured Mr. Hawkins as the juvenile delinquent when he first arrived on the _Legacy_ with her and her crew, and now, she saw him a bright young man worth his skin. Being selected to join her had lifted the dark thoughts on her mind the day she was assigned this job and service to the Academy she went and graduated to. She had told her to keep watch over the skies, make sure nothing was wrong, and if she did see something, alert the crew and herself immediately. She seemed enthusiastic about the position, and when Mr. Hawkins had offered to join her, she told him to get some rest and she would do her job, and that was it. Captain Amelia was impressed by her bark, but, the cat felt a little uneasy about her. She was someone Mr. Hawkins would risk his own life for if the time came to it, and that his actions could be clouded by that idea sent a shudder throughout her. We will see when the time came.

The third thought bothered her the most. She had dealt with crews that had disguised themselves to not look like their true form: Pirates, including the original crew about the _Legacy_. It was pirates that killed Mr. Arrow, but, she told herself not to dwell in the past. This new Lieutenant too, also seemed…unusual. They all seemed to listen with him when he barked an order, and when she gave her own, they wavered for a split second to look at him, and then scurry off at the order. Sometimes she heard whispered words from behind her back, but, even with her cat senses, couldn't pick out what they were saying.

When she dropped off these new recruits she would check backgrounds with this crew…again. Ever since the incident with _Treasure Planet_, she would check the background of each crew member making sure they never boarded her ship if she doubted them any more than normal, which she did now that she has seen them work. Some of these students seemed to do the same thing as she gave her orders for the day, which bothered her. This planet, as well, bothered her. It was quite far from any civilization, and if something went wrong, it would be a while, even at top speed, before they could reach any place with a hospital or supplies.

This planet, known as Botany, was filled with luscious plants, and animals in all sizes and weaknesses. From the searches and maps she was provided that now sat on her desk, it was also a very dangerous place, with all sorts of noxious plants and animals. One crew, who had done a mission to actually see what the students will go through, had lost one member of its team to a poisonous plant, her husband, Doctor Delbert Doppler, notified as the _Menispermum Canadense_, or otherwise known as the Moonseed plant. He told her that she had nothing to worry about unless one of the crew members or students ate one of the berries. It will tell them in their survival guide booklet on dangerous plants and animals they will be handed when they are dropped off, not to eat it, along with many other plants and animals.

She still felt uneasy going to this new planet, but, she laid her head down and drifted to sleep.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"So that is what we'll do," Carren said with a malevolence smile and gleam in his eyes. Vivian and Stella had listened in well when he explained the plan to get back at Dolphin and Hawkins. They both had the same wicked smile on their faces. "Understand?"

"Perfectly!" Vivian whispered, looking at the plans they made out.

"Only two more days…" Stella, Carren, and Vivian sneered, before blowing out the lights and heading to bed. The second boy, who was also a roommate with them, named Rakitan, had listened in and had added his input to the plan. Carren somewhat reluctantly, added him to the group. He was blue skinned, four eyes, and had only three fingers on each hand, but, they ended in deadly claws.

Claws almost as bad as Vivian's own…


	10. Captain, the Star!

Chapter 10 – "Captain, the Star!" 

Dolphy was just about to climb down from the next to relieve her from work when something blasted her back into it. The night flared into a crimson sky, and Morph screeched and dove into her shirt, where he felt he was safe. "What the Devil-," she cursed to herself, looking out into the Etherium. She saw a large star, the one she was sketching in her book, turn bright red, then send off a heat wave in which made sweat trickle down her back. "Captain, the star!" she cried out as loud as she could and the boy below her relayed the message. Captain Amelia came running out of her cabin, still in uniform.

"All crew fasten your life lines!" Cray called out with his booming voice. Everyone came down, from their posts to tie their lines good and tight to the ship.

"Abrasive action, Mr. Fint!" Amelia called out, running down the hull of the ship, barking other orders as shockwave after shockwave of orders came from her mouth. Dolphy was climbing down the ladder when a shockwave went by and knocked her off the mast. She screamed falling down, but, a warm touch caught her, and she saw Jim hold her tight.

"Come on!" he said.

"Mr. Cray, secure those sails!" she said at the helm, watching the screens for the next wave. Cray yelled out the orders, while Jim and Dolphy ran up front to tie down the forward sail. Boulders flew past below and over them, some of them small enough to fling past their ears in annoyance. A large boulder, one that dwarfed the ship came rolling their way, and the ship's cannon's couldn't destroy it, no matter how hard or fast he shot them. Jim went over to Dolphy and held her head to his chest, in a vain attempt to protect her. But as it had for his trip on the _Legacy_, the boulder pulled away. Jim and Dolphy watched as it flew back towards the black hole.

"Move!" Jim hissed, pulling Dolphy back to the ship, where he ran to the mast and waited for her.

"Mr. Hawkins! Make sure all life-lines are secured good and tight!" Amelia ordered.

"Aye-aye, Captain!" he answered running over and pulling on each one tightly, "life lines secured, Captain!" he yelled back.

"Very Good!" she answered. Her eyes went back to the screens before her. Jim ran back to Dolphy and touched her shoulder gently for there was fear in her eyes. "All students to the mast and hold on tight! It is going to be a bumpy ride!" Amelia cried out as she ran from the computer screens and grabbed the helm. Jim pulled Dolphy against the mast and pushed his body tight against her, and held on tightly to the mast.

As they fell down to the swirling mass, they got lower and lower, and Jim began to doubt that they would make it. Last time they would already be cheering for survival by now. Something in his gut told him to say what he wanted to say for a while now. As they tumbled down, he brought her mouth close to her ear, and whispered the words.

Dolphy thought the same thing too and turned to face him.

"I love you!" they both said in unison. A sudden burst of light brought Dolphy together with Jim's chest and he gripped her in a tight embrace. The entire world seemed better and brighter now. The ship's sails collected the blast of light and exploded away. The captain drove the ship with ease to a safe part of the Etherium where everyone shouted and cheered for their being alive.

All except Jim and Dolphy, that is.

The two humans on board were tight in each other's arms, both happy that the truth is out. They both pulled back to look at each other's eyes and both of them bent down with their foreheads together. Jim chuckled and soon Dolphy followed suit.

"You are the one," he whispered, and gently kissed her lips.

"Is everyone here," Amelia's voice rung out through the cheering crowd. They all settled down, Jim and Dolphy broke apart, but he kept one arm around her waist. "Mr. Cray?" she asked. No one answered. "Mr. Cray? Mr. Dest?" Mr. Dest was the cook, and a brilliant one at that. Amelia thought of him as a good man, and had been happy to be in his company when Doppler wasn't around. Cray came in, holding the handkerchief that Dest had always worn.

"Our cook," he said, handing it to Amelia, "is lost." All eyes drifted to Jim, and he stiffened, "His life line was not secured."

"WHAT!" he yelled. "Not again," he whispered, before checking them all again. Surely enough, one was missing. "I checked them, I know I did. Captain…" Her eyes glared gently at him, and Jim could feel something inside of himself crush to nothing. "But…" he didn't say anymore, except run into his rooms, slamming the door. Dolphy glanced over to Carren and Vivian, who looked sad, but, they had small smiles pulling at their lips and their eyes were mocking. Carren was looking at her. She glared harshly at him, and then followed Jim into the rooms.

"Jim, let me in," she said when she found it was locked.

No answer.

"Please, Jim," she said again.

No answer.

With a sigh, Dolphy dug into her shirt and gently pulled out Morph. "Can you pick the lock?" she whispered. He chirped and dug his face into the lock. The soft clicks of the bolt reached Dolphy's ears, and when Morph came out and rested on her shoulder, she opened the door, and found Jim lying balled in a corner, her knees to his face, and he was crying. Dolphy looked at him and sighed slightly. "Jim…" he didn't answer, but continued to cry into his knees. "It wasn't your fault," she said, walking to his bed.

"Dolphy…" he said, not bringing his face up. She put her hand on his shoulder. He continued to cry.

"Jim," she said. She pulled him to the edge of the bed and tightly wrapped her arms around his chest, "it is alright. It's alright. I'm here for you." He continued to let tears come down his face, but, Jim closed his eyes, forcing the last of his tears to come out. He turned around to face her, and she put two warm hands on his cheeks and looked deep into his eyes. "It is ok. It wasn't you fault." He sighed and rested his head on her shoulder. She placed her hand around his neck. She kissed his forehead.

"Thank you," he whispered. She smiled.

"You're welcome," she answered. "You are very welcome, Jim. I am always here for you."


	11. Botany

Chapter 11 – Botany

The day the arrived at Botany was short and full of lectures. Each team was handed a booklet on poisonous plants and animals on this planet, and the guidelines where to go and how to survive. Everyone would have to be able to survive for at least three weeks without the help from anyone of the outside world. The teams were given a hatchet, a gun for self protection, a knife, the pamphlet, a rope, and a large blanket. Anything else they would have to get on the planet itself.

They were launched, and everyone split up into their groups and left. Dolphy and Jim headed to a forest-like area, knowing that a lot of creatures that was edible were there. Carren, Vivian and Stella went also, with Rakitan's group close behind. "How long do we need to wait until we go with the plan?" Stella asked Carren, who, they had elected the leader of this plan.

"In a week's time, we will carry it out, until then, we can have our fun."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Dolphy and Jim set up a small covering so if it rained, they wouldn't be completely drenched, and sat underneath it, going over the book they had been given. Dolphy would look at him at times, to make sure he was alright, and when he turned to face her as well, they both blushed and went back to the book in hand. Jim had recovered, only just, from the incident with the cook, and Dolphy had made sure no one talked about it around them, but now, in solitary, she didn't even think about it.

"So, do you want me to hunt?" She asked. He shrugged.

"I think we should both go, in case on gets lost," he answered. Dolphy nodded, consciously grateful for his company, and they set off, Dolphy with the hatchet and Jim with the knife. Safely tucked away in his boot, was the gun, and around a belt loop was the rope, maybe to climb high and get fruits. As they walked down the way, they held hands as usual, picking the correct berries and making sure unfamiliar berries and plants were carefully recorded and kept a safe distance away if not good for any human.

"Hey Dolphy," Jim called from inside the forest. Dolphy was standing out at the edge of the green forest, overlooking the most spectacular vision she has ever seen before. Canyons dipped and soared, with different avian species flying in the air above.

"Yeah?" she called out. A blast of wind shook her brown hair out of its band, and flew into her eyes, but, she didn't move. The view was spectacular.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Over here!" she yelled. "Come here, you have to come see this!" he met her there, and they both gaped at the canyon. "Amazing," she whispered under her breath. Neither could pull their eyes from the edge of the canyon. "Come on," she said, gently pulling his hand. They both walked slowly towards the edge, but, when Dolphy stepped forward, the rock, which had been purposely dug out from underneath, crumbled and gave way. She screamed and plummeted down the canyon to a small ledge where she laid unconscious.

"Dolphy!" Jim yelled, and tried to figure out a way, a less painful way, to get down to her. He pulled out the rope, thankful Dolphy thought they should bring it, and tied it against one of the trees. Surprisingly, which he really didn't think about at this moment, it would just barely make it to the ledge she was on. "Hold on!" He followed the rope down, and landed right next to her. A small cut ran from her temple off her jaw. "Dolphy?"

No answer.

"Dolphy?"

No answer.

He turned her so she was on her back, and could have sworn he heard laughter above him. He pushed it to the back of his mind and checked her vital signs. She was still alive, her heartbeat was a bit slow, but, she was alive. With the blanket she had tied to her back had cushioned her fall, and he took it off her back and shredded it into strips. With those strips, he used his canteen of water to wet them down and gently placed them on her forehead. He set up a fire afterwards and waited…


	12. Twilight

Chapter 12 – Twilight 

Something was warm and gentle against her face…

Was it a fire? No, too cool and gentle…

Was it a blanket? No, too soft…

What was it?

A soft voice called a name, who was it? It was a voice filled with pain and hurt, but, she couldn't pinpoint who it was. Hello? She couldn't speak. Where was she? Who was she? Small things came into her mind. A young boy, no, he was older by about three years, and then, screaming…and blood. Why was there so much blood? His eyes were dull and lifeless, and a man, her father? No, this man looked much darker, much more sinister look in his eyes, and his knife had blood dripping down. Why was there so much blood?

His voice called a name again. Was it her name? What was her name? Why was it so dark? Another warm touch against her face. Who, or what, was doing that? Why was it so gentle, so warm, and so kind? His voice called again. Why couldn't he leave her alone? No, he was too kind, too gentle, don't leave! "Dolphy…" the voice said. Why did it sound familiar? Was it her name? Yes, yes it was. It was her name, but, who was saying her name?

She tried to open her eyes and found that she couldn't. Who was calling her name? A face…Yes, yes there was a face! A young boy, about her age, wait, how old was she? About 16, yes! A young boy, about 16, looked down at her with deep blue eyes, like the Etherium. Wait, the Etherium? Yes, yes, the Etherium, the space and stars! Two brown locks of hair bordered his face, pulled back into a braided ponytail at the nape of his neck. Who was he? She had a face, but, a name? What name? Did he have a name?

Yes, yes he did, it nagged her in the back of her mind. What was it? Carren? No, that name was dark. "Jim?" she asked. She tried to open her eyes again, but, found she could this time. When they were opened, the face was leaning down at her, tears fell down his face, and a smile graced his lips.

"Dolphy!" he said. He rested his head gently on her chest and sobbed some more. "I thought you were dead!" he whimpered. Memories flooded back into her mind, of the Academy, of Carren, of Jim…Jim. "I am so sorry; I should have been able to catch you." She fell? Yes, she fell, and then, blank, nothing.

"It is alright, Jim," she said weakly, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Can you help me up?" He did, leaning her against the wall. He placed his hand on her cheek, and Dolphy was able to pinpoint it from her memory. He had cared for her, he had tried to awaken her, and he had helped her wounds as well. "Anything broken?"

"Not from what I checked, surprisingly," he said, "Let's get out of here, it is nearly twilight."

And so they did. They both climbed the rope back up to the top, and too tired to walk all the way back to camp, they climbed up a tree, where they could get a good view of the canyon in the distance. Dolphy rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his lap. He rested his head atop hers, wary still though of the wound on her temple. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

"Damn, it didn't work!"

"It wasn't supposed to kill her."

"She wasn't supposed to be wake right after falling, too."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Rakitan, what do you think we should do?"

"Go ahead with the plan."

"This early?"

"Get rid of this blue bastard, Carren! He doesn't know anything about Dolphin, and his own plans suck! Look, they are so happy in a tree together!"

"Settle down, Stella. What do you think we should do?"

"Like I said, go ahead with the plan. Get them separated, then-."

"Yes, we know the plan!"

"Stella! Chill!"

"-but add a couple of tweaks. This time, make them both suffer."

"How do we do that?"

"Carren, you used to date Dolphin, like you have told me, what do you know about her? What is her weakness?"

"She got really pissed off when Stella, Meena and I messed around with her sketchbook and her…lion doll, whatever the hell that thing was."

"She loves that thing. I am quite surprised she didn't bring it along with her."

"_That_, I remember. She also hates it when people try to get the better of her, like, with her past."

"What do mean by that?"

"Oh, I have an idea…"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Morning, the time when the sun first rises over the planet, but, what makes this planet so special, that it was chosen by the board for the students arrive? The thought made Captain Amelia think. Why _was_ that? No one lived on this planet. Maybe that was it. Seclusion is a good way to teach newcomers about being marooned or whatnot. But what else? The planet is flocked with dangerous creatures that could easily kill any of these students. Why endanger them? The thought baffled Amelia. She changed the subject.

Her crew: that was something for her to think on. The crew, even after the cook's death, seemed to act more and more towards mutiny. Why did crews always turn out to be pirates, or bandits, or just plain lazy asses? She didn't understand her great luck at finding crews. She let a small smile pull at her lips. Why do bad things happen to good people? Amelia didn't have the answer for that. She did more research on this crew, and what was the truth for them was absolutely amazing. They actually _were_ pirates! She found each and every one of their heads up for more then a simple wanton. Someone knocked on her door.

"Yes?" she called our, instantly shutting down the hologram. Instead of being opened, the door was shot down. Cray, that damned lieutenant, came in with a huge blaster, aimed directly at her. "Traitor."

"You already knew that, huh, _Captain_?" he sneered.

"What do you want?" Amelia asked, standing up. Her ears were flat against her head.

"Call in you passengers from the Academy, or we'll hunt each and every one down and kill them."

"What do you plan to do with them, Cray?" she snapped back. He pulled out a smaller blaster and shot her in her arm. The blast sent a shockwave of pain throughout her entire body. It was a shock gun, and it sure did send a hell of a shock throughout her entire body. Her eyes were wide, and her ears were flat against her head in anger.

"Call them," he sneered, handing her the com. With a glare at him, and a respect for her own life as well, she punched in the code and ordered them all back.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In Jim's facet, the gun went of, sending a hologram up from the barrel. "What is it?" Dolphy asked, waking up from her slumber just as he had. It said that they were summoned back for the ship for immediate take-off.

"Something is wrong," Jim said, worried, "Amelia would never call off the mission early unless something was really wrong." Dolphy looked at him and immediately started packing the rope, blanket, and other materials they were sent down with. Jim was worried the entire time, shaking while he ran. When they stopped for a quick breather, he would stay quiet, inside himself.

"Jim, she will be alright," Dolphy comforted, and kissed his cheek. He seemed to settle down, but only just.

"I hope so." He stood up and held out his hand for her. She accepted it, and ran some more towards where they were instructed to meet.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

"What the hell does she want?" Carren cursed pulling out the gun where the message would come. Carren smiled with a dark smile. "We can use this to out advantage."

"Like how?"

"I'll tell you on the way, but, we have to get there as soon as possible. This is going to be two birds with one stone attempt. Come on!" he ordered and grabbed his stuff. A wrapper of something Carren had eaten floated on the surface of water and it began to rumble and growl. They were each talking with low hissed voices when something growled behind them. They turned around slowly and saw this great beast, with blue ethereal wings come from the water.

"What the hell?" Vivian screamed running back away from the creature. Rakitan tried to, as slowly as possible, he pulled out the book, "is that?"

"A Dracinus," Rakitan said, his voice quiet and unnerving, "let's go!" he yelled and ran away, things in hand. They all ran, ignoring the lonely growl from the water.


	13. The Ship

Chapter 13 – The Ship

Now the ship loomed above them, looking more sinister than it had before. Jim and Dolphy looked warily from a distance seeing the flag at the bottom of the mast, ready to be flown. Dolphy was under some bushes, flat against her chest, looking at the ship with wary eyes, and Jim in the trees above. They both were panting, having to run almost nonstop to the docking point.

"What else…can you…see?" Dolphy panted up to Jim.

"Nothing much," he breathed, trying as well to catch his breath, "They are there, I can see them. It seems normal, though." But something wasn't normal; they could feel it in the air. Both of them quivered in fear of being caught and also fear for Amelia. Was she alright? They both knew they had to accept the worse if she wasn't, and would have to probably fight to get free. A small breeze whistled throughout the forest sending Dolphy's hair whipping about her face, stinging her cheeks and eyes.

"Maybe to you!" a voice growled, behind Dolphy. She swirled around, seeing a large bulky man with a thick mop of black hair and dark eyes set deep into his face. His chest was bare of any shirt, but, his lower body was covered with thick pants tied around his waist with a tight belt. A hand clamped itself on top of her mouth and another bringing her arm back hard and rough. "But for us, it is a bit far away from home." He jerked her back, forcing her to stand up and wince in pain. "Now, where is the other?" Dolphy couldn't respond. The pain was too much. It felt as if the pull and tugs of that man on her arm was like it would be ripped out of its socket.

"Jim, run!" she screamed. He did as she barked at him pleading with himself to turn back, but found the look in her eyes as she yelled at him unbearable. She _wanted_ him to leave her. _I'm sorry_, he whispered to himself as he jumped down from the canopy towards the ground.

…

Dolphy watching with sorrow as Jim bounced away. She was pleased with him, but, it was heartbreaking to watch him leave. A shove sent her forward, making her bite her tongue. A sweet and tangy taste entered her mind: blood. _Moron,_ she growled to herself and sent a glare back at him. He pushed her again, barking at her to keep moving. With an arm tightly held around her waist, which was so wrong for Dolphy, he climbed a rope that came from the edge of the ship with ease, then dropping her on the deck. She landed with a thud on her rear. "Oww," she muttered to herself.

The deck was totally empty, and by response, she gulped.

Another man, this one she knew all too well, stepped forward from the Captain's cabin.

…

Jim was a good distance from the ship now. He had taken Dolphy's orders and ran as if there was no tomorrow. But why had she wanted that? To protect him, he kept snapping at himself. It couldn't be any other way. No, it couldn't.

"Come on!" Jim stopped, hearing voices he knew all too well. In the bushes in the distance, he could see Carren, Stella, Vivian, and a blue alien he had not seen before, jump, panting as if from a heavy and long run. "Are you alright?" they each asked each other, nodding. Thoughts ran through Jim's mind over and over again concerning them.

Carren looked in his direction, a look as if he was searching for something totally covering his eyes. Jim ducked down in the tree's thick leaves, still keeping his enemy in sight, because he did have a gun, anyway. A few precious moments of time passed by with Carren looking intently up at Jim. Jim began to quiver on the tree's thick branch. The blue alien was the one who snapped Carren out of the trance.

"You ok?" he asked. Carren, took another glance up to where Jim was, scowled, and then turned back towards the others. Should he help them? A single comment from Stella seriously changed his mind: for the better.

"I really wish she would have stayed out longer. Dolphin I mean," Everyone nodded.

"It would be better if she dragged Hawkins along with her," Carren chuckled. They all burst out laughing and continued on. Jim, with a sigh and a thought of revenge on his mind, stood in the tree tops to ponder on how to rescue the students and Amelia.

…

"Come on!" Carren snapped, pushing his companions through the bushes. Every single one of them panted, bending over and leaning on their knees in any case it would help them. It didn't do them that much good. They continued to bend over to find a comfortable position. Leaning against a tree, pulling on a branch for support, or leaning on each other, it didn't matter. They just _had_ to find a comfortable position.

A creak in the trees made Carren feel like he was watched.

He looked up, seeing something move behind a large bush. He had the strangest feeling that he was being watched, and by a gaze he knew and despised. He kept his gaze there trying to pick out the eavesdropper from the tree but couldn't. Rakitan tapped Carren on the shoulder. "You Ok?" he asked. Carren nodded, stole a glance back in the direction and turned to everyone else.

"I really wish she would have stayed out of it longer. Dolphin I mean," Stella said. Everyone, with a smile, nodded.

"It would have been better if she dragged Hawkins along with her," Carren chuckled. They burst out laughing, and Vivian motioned for them to keep going. They all followed behind, only Carren pondering about the eavesdropper and the plan to come.

…

Damn them…

Damn them all! Amelia snapped in her mind. She was in the dark and cold brig, and now she understood fully on what those damned pirates she accompanied to Treasure Planet felt like when they were down here. It was utterly freezing, and she shivered in her boots. Her entire body was still numb from the blast of electricity that had knocked her unconscious so those brutes could throw her down her. If she got out, no, when she did, she would love to kill them herself, but, she knew they would have to go to trial, and they would have to face treason. But if they endangered the students at all, then she would kill them, and face the consequences afterwards.

"'Ou 'ave a mate, Cap'n," one of those idiots growled. He brought in a young girl, her face torn and beaten, her clothes ragged and frayed. Amelia immediately recognized her as Dolphy, that close friend of Mr. Hawkins'. The pirate opened up the brig's large iron plated door.

"Miss Dolphy," Amelia gasped as the pirate walked away. She crawled her way over to the poor human girl who was grunting in pain on the wet floor, "Are you alright?" Dolphy nodded with a grunt of pain, opening her dark green orbs. There was so much pain in there, more than Amelia had ever seen before in any person. With all her might, Amelia pulled Dolphy's head into her lap and used a claw to gently move away a stray hair. "Where is Jim?" she asked.

"I told…" she began, "to run. To…protect…himself." She was gasping for breath now. Amelia could see the full extent of her wounds. Her leg looked badly beaten and battered, close to breaking. Her arms and legs were completely bruised. Her shirt and pants were ripped and stained with her crimson blood and so was her beautiful face. "What...about…you?"

"Don't worry about me, you daft girl," Amelia answered, more concerned for this girl than her own life. "You need to get some rest sleep." Dolphy let a small smile grace her lips and she saw Amelia smile back before she faded into a nightmare.

…

Captain Cray is a well known Pirate Captain and feared nearly as much as Flint, if that was at all possible. That man was his idol, the person he looked up to, and as a child, he always wanted to be like him. It was a close life now from that of his childhood, it was close but not close enough.

But that child, that girl that was looking on the ship from the bushes, now _she_ was something!

When he had stepped out of the cabin and seen her after a few days in the wilderness he thought she would look much, much worse, but she looked dirty, after being out there, but much cleaner. She would have been better off if she had some more mud covering that pretty face of hers.

"What do you want with me?" she had barked when she had seen him.

"Where are the rest of the students?" he asked.

"I don't know. Now, what do you think you can achieve by capturing me?"

"I am the one asking the questions, here, Miss!" He had barked coming up to her and punching her in the gut, forcing the air out of her lungs. She crumbled to her knees, gasping for breath. He grabbed a handful of her hair, smiling when she grunted in pain.

"B-b-bastard!" she barked with what little air she was able to bring out. The smile faded from Cray's face instantly, and he slapped her hard across her face. She will not defy him, and would learn to respect him as his crew did.

"Who do you think you are, Miss?" Cray asked, looking down at her with amused yet focused eyes, "Queen of the Etherium?" He didn't see the small smile pull at her lips. Dolphy didn't answer. When he saw that he wouldn't get anything from her after a couple slashes of his blade and some more punches her waved her off to be carried down into the brig with the _former_ captain of the ship.

This was going to bring difficulties to his plan…

…

She was in a dark abyss, the weight of a thousand tons of pressure weighing down on her. It was hard for her to breath under this cursed salt water, she couldn't stand, and she couldn't even open her eyes fully. If she did, the water would burn them, the salt of each droplet combined would be enough to blind this far down. But higher up, higher at the surface, with the air closer to the skin of the water would be heaven, if only she could get up there!

That small piece of alien material was confusing enough, but when that human and his friends saw her, they screamed and ran, quivering and shaking in their boots. But why? She was a friendly creature and she only wanted to be known, to be heard, to have someone to speak to. Yes, it was true that her kind could read and could even mimic the human voice if it wanted to, and that is what she wanted to do. She wanted to be _heard_ more than anything. Nobody, not even her own kind which she was the last of in this large body of water wanted to be near her. Her colors were different, more surface world colors than the dark ones that her kind had. She had blues and purples rather than the reds and blacks. And the fact that she was smaller than the others also made her an outcast with her own people.

But she could also smell blood leaking in from the soil of the surface world and it smelled human too. She looked up and saw a young human boy washing his hands in her water. Wait a human! She swam as fast as she could to the surface but slowed, remembering the other human's face when she had broken surface and made herself shown. Better to come out slowly.

She poked her head out of the water and looked into bright human blue eyes…


	14. Joining Plans

Chapter 14 – Joining Plans 

Jim looked at the Dracinus as it propelled itself out of the water. It was _huge_! "What in the world?" Jim gasped but quickly had to tumble out of the way to miss the two-ton creature that jumped out of the water onto the bank. The creature was dark blue and violet scares, with ethereal blue and white wings. It made a rumbling sound, as if it had swallowed an engine. "It's OK," Jim said, taking small steps backwards, "I'm not going to hurt you." Another rumble, "So, what are you?"

Silent.

Pure silence.

Even the freakish birds in the trees stayed quiet. He took another step back, and the creature waddled forward, slowly but surely, waddled forward. Jim panicked and jumped into the bushes, but didn't run. He lay there, looking at the creature and watched as it looked like it _sighed_? With its head drooped, it made its way back to the water.

"Hey, wait!" Jim called out. The creature stopped and looked at him. "You aren't going to hurt me?" It shook its head. "Can…you…speak?"

"_Yes_," she growled. The power in its voice made Jim takes a step back. The voice was unmistakably female as Dolphy's was. "_Are you friend_?" It talked a bit slowly as well.

"Are you enemy?" Jim retorted. The Dracinus shook her head.

"_Me no enemy. You enemy_?" Jim shook his head. "_Those others,"_ she said, "_They thought WaterWing enemy. WaterWing's feeling hurt._"

"Are you WaterWing?" Jim asked. The creature nodded her head.

"_I guard FayLake_," she said, her voice now a coarse whisper. "_Others leave WaterWing. They say I am not of their own. They have different colors. I want to help. I want to be _heard_. WaterWing is not enemy._" Jim pondered over this and idea struck his mind.

"Maybe you can help me after all, WaterWing."

…

_The night sky was bright with orange light. _

_Stars twinkled out of sight._

_Little did she know of the life dying that night?_

_She would be the one to show her might._

Dolphy watched as her nightmare awoke her deepest fears. Her little country farm by a large pond filled with dolphins was aflame. The creatures in it that required air the ones burning. Tears fell down her face as she watched her favorite animals burn. It was pirates who had done this. Her family had escaped the house just in time but she was left to stay and watch as her father and mother went back in to save Cray. Her older brother by 4 years was trapped in there. He had taken on the Pirate Captain to protect his family and to give them time to get out.

Fool.

Even at age 12, Dolphy knew that you should never face a Pirate in a sword combat, no matter how good you think you are! She shuddered at the thought of her brother being run through. But remembered years of being his personal maid by her mother's beck and call as well, made her think otherwise of the fate her brother meant. Many things would make her happy at his death. But she still couldn't face herself to see her brother dead at the face of a Pirate.

A smile.

Maybe she could if she faced her past. See what he had done to her once again and make her decision again. She smiled to herself even wider. It would be worth it to her. It would definitely worth it to see Cray at the wrong end of the blade.

…

"Miss Dolphy?" Amelia asked looking down at the freezing and wounded girl with worried filled cat eyes. The girl had been crying, tossing and turning, then smiling wickedly at something unseen. She was shivering, even with the burning fever she had. She was also sweating badly. "Are you alright?" She didn't expect an answer. The girl was still unconscious, lost in a nightmare. With a sigh, Amelia sifted through her thoughts about the past few days of being stuck in the filthy dungeon.

Cray had thrown her down here who knows how many days ago and had beaten a young girl as well. Even with Dolphy's sharp tongue, the beatings given to her who outrages, like a criminal or a traitor would be given for his or her crimes against civilizations. The poor girl. She shouldn't have been treated this way. What else could have he done to her that the normal eye could not see? Her clothes were torn and badly, her face dusty worn and bruised, and her body was covered in cuts and gashes. It was a miracle none of her bones were broken.

Another thing Amelia had noticed between the Pirate Captain and this girl in front of her: they looked so similar it was frightening. Although Cray's was in patches, they had the same shade of hair, and even with Dolphy's waves to hers, if the Captain grew his out, it would have the same touches to it. Their eyes as well looked so similar. Dolphy's a dazzling shade of emerald-jade green. Cray's was more of an emerald and faded, but still. Cray looked old enough to be her father, with wrinkle lines of a hard worker all over his face and calluses on his hands.

With a gasp Amelia saw the resemblance between the two people.

…

**Sorry that it is so short and that I haven't posted in a long time. My computer is on the fritz! I also have my Algebra grade to bring up…XD…I have had Volleyball to work on as well which was every…single…day…of the week…sorry everyone! I had to go to Mannheim and Ramstein for a couple of weekends and days, and the three hours it takes to get there I was sleeping…hehe…love you all!**

**SORRY DOLPHY!!!!!**

**-A Flaming Moon**


	15. Nightmares Come Alive

**Sorry it took so long to post, Dolphy! (I am on my knees asking for forgiveness!)**

Chapter 15 – Nightmares come Alive

Captain Cray sat on the poop deck of the _Inheritance_, waiting for those brats from the Academy to come. But what if they didn't? He shrugged to himself. Maroon them. It wasn't like he would lose sleep over it though. No, but that Hawkins boy had to come. He was a weakness to his beloved sister, Jessica. If he wanted to get her to cooperate, then he would need that boy…

A noise sounded through the planet below. It sounded like someone was blowing up a thousand cats, dogs, and birds in a single fiery and painful blast. It was coming from the lake…but he shook it off. Nothing more than a dying whale, he guessed.

But his plans were going perfectly. His crew was behind him till their deaths, he had the former captain and his sister along with a few of the students who had chosen to come back early in the brig below his feet. Now all he needed to do was find _him_…

…

Jim and the Dracinus had their plans.

Now all they had to do was begin.

It wouldn't be easy, he knew that for sure, but it was something that had to be done…and soon. But where would he begin? The Dracinus would storm in, to much of Waterwing's happiness and sheer joy, calling out a battle caw that sounded like different kinds of animals were being put to complete and total torture. It had nearly broken his eardrums when WaterWing demonstrated.

"Ok, ok!" Jim had panted when the sound finally came down. "That would be perfect." The only drawback was that WaterWing wobbled like a sea lion on dry land. She was too big for Jim to carry, but, the creature promised that she would find her own way of getting to the ship. Her scales anyway, were completely laser, bullet, and pressure proof, from experience of nearly 100 years down below the surface of Feylake. "Are you ready?" she nodded. They had both already gone over the plans multiple times over and over again. She nodded, and they both barreled their way throughout the forest…

_I'm coming Dolphy_, Jim yelled in his mind.

He would save her even if it cost him his life.

…

Where was she?

Why was she so sore?

Who was she?

These thoughts kept running through her head. They had to be answered and sometime soon or she would drive herself insane! She opened her eyes and saw herself in a deep and dark room. Someone else was here as well…but whom? "How are you?" The voice was female, wise and precautious like a cat, with a…British accent? "Dolphy?" She tried to move away. Her body was just too sore…she couldn't move.

"It's me, Dolphy. Captain Amelia?" Visions began to explode into her mind: feelings, people, places, plots, pain…everything. She was Dolphy. She was stuck in here by her brother, that bastard. Amelia was trapped down here because of an electric shock she met in the side not too long ago. Jim was still out there. Was he safe? Was he alive? Was he…dead? "Do you remember?"

"Yes…" she croaked. Her voice was cracked and her throat hurt. Amelia smiled and threw her a flask filled with only a small sips worth of water.

"Here. You need it more than I do," she answered. Dolphy smiled warmly and sipped what was left. "How are you feeling?" Dolphy wiped the sweat that was pooling down from her forehead away from her eyes. She was surprised on how much effort it took to just do that.

"Like crap, to be honest," she answered receiving a scowl from Amelia. "Sorry." The cat woman in front of her chuckled. "Where am I again?"

"The brig of the _Inheritance,_" She answered, looking around. "Cray put us down here. Did you know that you to looked so…similar?" She cocked an eyebrow at Dolphy's response. The girl shrugged her shoulders but didn't meet Amelia's eye. Amelia thought it weird that shock didn't even register a hint on the girl's face. Did she know? Or did she just did not want to admit to the truth, she noted. "What is it?"

"Nothing at all in the least. _Weise zu gehen_!"

"What?"

"_Nichts_!" The look in her eyes made Amelia stop bugging her. "_Dumme Katze_." The faraway language ran through Amelia's ears. What was she saying that was making her so angry? Amelia let it go.

…

"Captain, she is awake," said one of his men. Cray was looking over the forest canopy. Something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong. He hated not knowing what was coming his way. Birds with four wings flew above the canopy, tree wiggled, creatures cried in fear.

Something was heading their way.

But _what_? _Was ist es? _He kept muttering to himself in his native language. _Was_?!

"Captain!" Someone shook him awake from his ranting.

"What?" He barked. He was much too furious to deal with anybody right at the moment.

"The men are getting restless. They see the…the disturbance…heading our way. They want to check it out." Cray thought it over. Things ran through his head. What if it was something dangerous? He was younger than most anyway. If some of them died, it wasn't like he was going to lose sleep over it. He was only stuck in this position because of that night. Cray nodded.

"Go ahead," he growled. "Keep some men on board and," he paused to think of the correct terms to use with his men. Most didn't speak or understand what he says well, "send the human girl to my rooms. She and I shall be having a good long talk." The man smiled a toothless grin. His idea of "talk" and Cray's idea of a "talk" were two totally different "talks".

His version of a talk would require the back of his hand and some harsh words he have wanted to tell his sister for a very long time. He smiled and waited until he heard her grunt out of the cellar and into his rooms.

…

"The capn' wan's to see you now, gi'l," a man said in a rough accent of someone who hasn't talked to people much. "Now you bette' behave 'cause 'f you don' you'l 'ave to deal wit' me!"

"I am so scared," Dolphy growled, safely behind bars. The man grunted and pulled out a key. "Like my brother would want anything to do with the likes of little ol' me."

"'E ain't your bru'der, gi'l. Jus' com' on!" Dolphy just sat there and looked defiant at him. "I'm warnin' you," he growled back. With a lunge, a scream from Dolphy, and a hiss from Amelia, the man found his hand around her neck in a vice like grip. Amelia lunged forth with her claws extended for the man's eyes.

They made contact.

Blood squirted out from his green eyes, spraying both Amelia and Dolphy in blood. He screamed, putting both his hands over his now screwed up eyes. "Come on!" Amelia urged, grabbing Dolphy's wrist and pulling her along. "We need to get out of here!"

"I don't think so!" A new guard blocked the door.

It was the only way out.

"Damn," Amelia growled. Men swarmed around her, bringing her already broken arm back with a painful snap. She fought and fought, lashing out with jagged claws but to no avail. There were too many guards. Dolphy did the smart thing. When they grabbed her wrists and pulled back her head sharply to allow a knife to slit across the front to scare her, she stayed dead still. A small river of blood dribbled down her throat. A different man, this one with thick black hair and angry green eyes and dark skin, licked the blood off her throat and smiled.

"You can't escape."

"Leave her alone!" Amelia screamed. The man turned to her she glared defiantly at him. He eyed her body and she stood stiff in front of him as he pulled out a blade and placed the point at her throat. He smiled at the fear emanating from her eyes. He smirked. She spat in his eyes and thrashed against her captors. "Bastard!"

"Amelia," Dolphy said. Her eyes were dull as if all the life in them was gone. She spoke in monotone. "Don't. I wish to speak with my brother, Cray." She turned to the man standing in front of Amelia. "Take me to him, Master Drest."

"Dolphy–," she hissed thrashing some more in her attacker's grasp. "Don't do this. Think of Jim! What would he say if he could see you now?" When she answered she didn't even sound like her. Dolphy was so far inside of herself now from pain or common knowledge to care. She could be committing suicide. No…she _would_ be committing suicide. Her hair was matted on her face, cuts and bruises lined her body from being thrashed about, her eyes as dim as any pair of green eyes could get, her lips dried and split. Her clothes were ripped showing so much more skin that they are supposed to.

Was this the Dolphy that grew up with Cray? The way she accepted it so easily sounded so likely to Amelia. "It is alright, Captain," she answered her. Amelia gasped at her terms. What did she mean by that!? The girl was about to go to her death! What would that mean, though? Did she plan on bringing Cray with her to the grave?

No.

She couldn't! Jim needed her. Amelia could see it in the way they looked at each other, the way she comforted him when the cook fell off the ship into the black hole. The way he had protected her when the meteorite came flying their way. The way they had chosen each other to work with for the Botany trip.

She couldn't do this.

"Good bye," she answered her voice in an even deeper monotone than before.

She would definitely kill herself now.

And if she brought Cray down to the lowest of seven Hells with her, than it was just an added bonus to her death. "No," Amelia found herself whispering with every step Dolphy took up to the top deck. With every shove from her captives she shouted. "NO! NO! NO! DOLPHY!"

…

Yes! She was his now! He knew it and she knew it. He could tell by the distant and faraway look in her eyes that she always had when they were growing up. Oh how he loved the taste of victory! Half the crew was gone to look for that disturbance in the forest and would probably come back with some large creature's head. He had dominated the ship, its captain, and its crew.

As an added bonus, he found his sister and her lover on board.

But where was that brat?

He shrugged his shoulders. He would come in due time.

Due time…

…

Jim heard someone scream. The voice was obviously female and it hissed like a cat. Jim feared the worst had come to happen. Amelia was hurt or worse: Dolphy was. He growled and clenched his fists. He had to move faster! But WaterWing was so large and bulky she could only move so fast. She urged him to go on ahead but he ignored it. He needed to make sure nothing happened to her. She was the key part of getting to the ship without getting shot.

"What is it?" He asked when he noticed that WaterWing had stopped. She was sniffing the air again.

"People come. Bad. Have guns," she answered. Jim cursed. "Hide," she hissed. Jim climbed a tree and when he looked back down he saw WaterWing had disappeared. He had his gun at the ready and charged up in a blink of an eye when he saw the Pirates work their way through the forest.

"You Captain has got his sister now, right?" One man said. The others gasped.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. The one who names herself after an animal? Dolphin or something like that. Well, she is the one. Apparently, it is because of her the Captain got sided with us when he killed Joshe. He wants to give her a piece of his mind for making him a convict although, he says he absolutely loves the job though. I am starting to have my doubts about him."

"Thinking of a mutiny then, Arreon?" Arreon chuckled.

"I am not stupid, Catrei. I'm not going to risk getting run through for the sake of getting one of you assholes at power!" everyone chuckled. Catrei's face flushed a bright red. "I don't know though. That girl, she is so, so different yet so much like her brother. She would make a good captain." Everyone looked as though they were going to shoot him.

"Do you really think that we would follow orders of a _girl_?" the man named Catrei barked. Another man piped in. Jim recognized him as Martim.

"She does kick butt though. Remember when we were "teaching" her how to fight?" he chuckled. Others did as well, "well you have to admit she has some skill with a gun, blade, and with her fists." Years with Carren and with Vivian, Stella, and Meena would have made her good with stuff like that. He couldn't help but smile at their stupidity. They had no idea…

"But that boy she was with…Hawkins. The Captain wants him just about as much as he wants his sister now. Keep an eye out for him as well." Everyone nodded and grunted and left. Their words left Jim on the brink of tears. Cray was Dolphy's _brother_? Why didn't she tell him? What other lies did she keep from him? He felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.

He waited about another 20 minutes in the tree. To make sure they didn't come back and to take the time to cry into his knees.


	16. Attack

Chapter 16 – Attack

She waited for him in his cabin, her eyes defiant, and her body rigid. Small tears fell down her face but she didn't even notice them. She didn't care. Dolphy was so far into herself, she could hardly recall who and where she was. The room was dark and stuffy and she could easily see the dust float in the air.

But she didn't care.

Just as the covers on the windows blocked out the light, she had made her own covers to protect what little light she had inside from her brother. But how? How could he be alive? The only reason she was sent to the academy was because of him. But she had him to thank.

"DOLPHY!" A cry fell over the forest. It was a call she heard only faintly. A call from the forest, loud and painful to the ears, sounded. More tears, still unnoticed, began to fall down, the soot and dirt that was plated on her face began to wash away. She wanted to speak, she really did, but she couldn't find her voice.

Cray stormed into his cabin, his eyes alight with fear and fury. "Stand back," he growled, and melted the door handle. Another cry of her name brought Dolphy slightly more towards the light. "Ignore him. He will do nothing to save you."

Dolphy wasn't so sure about that.

…

Jim was in the brush below the ship, looking and covering his ears as WaterWing wobbled out into the clearing. It would almost be time. The men, who were running either away to help their poor ears, or firing shoots at WaterWing, a vain attempt to kill the creature. When the men were either unconscious on the deck or gone far away in fear, Jim hopped up onto the deck. He cried out again for Dolphy, but still got no response from her. _I'm coming Dolphy,_ he cried to himself.

There!

Cray ran into the office where the officer of the ship normally slept and stayed. On his face was a complete look of total fear. "Cray!" Jim yelled, running towards him. The door slammed in his face, the lock melted. "Damn," he growled and looked for another way in.

…

Voices she knew all to well awoke Amelia from her light sleep in the cellblock. Her body ached, her throat was parched, and her eyes burned. Someone she knew was up there. A Friend. Mr. Hawkins! "Mr-" she stopped. Her throat burned, the pain blinding her. She pushed on. "Jim!" she cried out. It was puny. Nothing. "Jim," she tried again. Heavy booted feet came by the stairs and a voice called out to her.

"Captain?"

"Jim," she began to cough. Hack. This was no fur ball too. Each time she spoke she was ripping a bit more of her throat out. "Over here."

"Captain!" Jim saw her laying in the cell, her arm broken and most likely a few ribs as well, in pain. "Captain are you alright?"

"Yes," she whispered, not daring to speak fully anymore. "Cray has Dolphy in my cabin."

"He has already melted the lock. I can't get in," he said. "Let me help you out. I have help outside." The lock melted easily and he was able to make it swing with ease. Helping Amelia out, he put her next to WaterWing, who promised to keep her safe. The cat was shocked beyond belief to hear this creature talking to her.

"Wait, Mr. Hawkins," Amelia cried out when he turned to leave. "There is a secret entrance into my cabin. By the helm take five large steps back. You will be standing on a trap door. On the mast next to it, tap ten times and get ready to fall. You will land in the center of the room." Jim nodded and turned again. "Mr. Hawkins," she whispered again. He turned back around. "Be careful. Cray is a smart man." Jim nodded, already knowing this and left her with WaterWing.

Amelia sighed and wondered if she should have told him about Dolphy being Cray's sister.

…

**Sorry it took so long to post. I have been busy and…yeah…please review and I hope you like it. Sorry it is so short!**


	17. Escape

Chapter 17 – Escape

"Come with me, sister," Cray told the girl standing there. She didn't move, but had her eyes glued to the door. He had to come for her, he just _had_ to! "He isn't coming." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. There was a window that was unlatched and when Dolphy looked out, she saw the plummet back to the ground would be long and painful at the end. Cray pushed her out. She landed on the ground with a thud, surprising herself that nothing was broken. Cray was next to her in an instant. "Jessica, come on!" He growled. She still didn't move.

"DOLPHY!"

A gasp came from her as she saw Jim looking out the window. Tears began to slide down her face faster and harder. She longed to move, to run and be with him, in his arms, but she couldn't. She was far into herself, so far that maybe, most likely that she wouldn't be able to pull herself out. She couldn't tell her body to move. Cray grabbed her wrist and literally began to drag her.

"Come on," Cray begged, pure fear beginning to fill his voice. Why though? Dolphy thought to herself as her body was being dragged. Why would he fear Jim? "Jessica, move!" Jim was catching up, and fast too. "Jessica!" Closer and closer Jim was getting. With each step Jim got closer, the quicker and more frantic Cray became. Even far into herself, Dolphy was enjoying this.

When Cray did something she did not expect.

…

Carren and the others found the ship in disarray. Windows were blown, solar-sails ripped, and it being completely abandoned. "What the hell?" Vivian hissed. Her ears were pricked forward for any sound but she couldn't get anything. Her lithe body, Carren noticed, was bleeding heavily. What was it from, though? Was if from that weird sound that sounded over the forest, scaring Vivian so badly that she ran blind-sighted over a rocky hillside?

And what was that noise, anyway?

Rakitan walked over to stand next to Carren. His voice was low and in a growl. "That Hawkins boy was here not long ago with that cat of a captain." He didn't know that Vivian had heard him.

"What is wrong with cats?" she hissed at him. She would have leapt on him and scratched his body to pieces if it wasn't for the fact that every muscle in her body was aching. "That captain liked Dolphin and Hawkins too much, but don't go stereotype on us, got it, Bluey?" She rolled her eyes and walked forward towards the abandoned ship.

"Who is there?"

Everyone jumped when they saw the captain leaning against a purple rock. She was bleeding, her arm looked broken, and her fur was matted. Her eyes lightened, only just, to see them. She let the gun she was pointing at them fall to the earth. "Where are the others?" They all shrugged.

"_Amelia, what is it_?" The great rock she was leaning against vibrated and a snake-like head formed out from the rock. The small group screamed. "_Amelia, can you get them to be quiet? WaterWing's ears hurt when they scream_." Amelia glared at them and shot a bullet past their heads. It nearly grazed the tops.

"Will you shut it? You'll blow our cover!"

"What the hell are you doing with, with, with that, _thing_, Captain?" Stella barked. She, along with the others, was shaking.

"This _thing_ saved my life. Do anything to harm WaterWing and you'll find yourself in the brig on the return journey, got it?" she hissed, giving each of them a crude and angry stare, meaning that she wasn't lying. "Mr. Hawkins and Miss Dolphy are still inside, dealing with Cray and his group of misfits. If you know what is best for you, you will stay here with me." Everyone looked at WaterWing with a wary gaze. Amelia managed the smallest of a chuckle. "She won't hurt you."

"_Although if they scream again, WaterWing might just_," the creature began, "_Another call like before should give their own ears a ring of pain, just like the way they did with WaterWing's ears._" Vivian stepped forward, her eyes alight with anger. She clutched where the deepest cut was.

"So my falling down a mountain was _your_ fault?" she hissed. WaterWing nodded. "Why you-," she was cut off by another blast from Amelia's gun. She looked at Amelia in dread. "Would you shoot me, Captain?" She asked with a coo in her voice. "Would you kill me?"

"No, just make your life miserable. WaterWing is right. You are hurting my ears as well. Sit down and shut up! Keep an eye out for any of the pirates. Tell me if you see one." Carren and Vivian exchanged a worried look. Stella caught Rakitan staring off at two figures in the distance…

…

**Here you go! Short again, I'm sorry, but my friends have been coming over all the time, trying to hook me up with a friend of mine…It gets annoying after a while, but I am leaving Europe in July, so they are trying to get me a guy before I leave. Sorry!!!**

**-A Flaming Moon**


	18. Revenge is a Deadly Thing

Chapter 18 – Revenge is a Deadly Thing

Chapter 18 – Revenge is a Deadly Thing

Then Cray did something she did not expect.

He threw her down on the ground, kicked her hard in the chest, making sure at least one of her ribs were broken, jumped on her arm, snapping it, shot her in the other arm, then ran as fast as he could go. Dolphy didn't whimper or anything but just lay there on the ground. She could feel the pain, even so far in herself, but she didn't care. Her own brother had tried to kill her. Her parents had let her live, but he had tried to kill her. She could just die. She had nothing else.

Then a voice.

"Dolphy!" It was distant, but she could still hear it. It was faint but she could still hear the pain and love in the voice. It was a voice of an angel. She wanted to call out but she couldn't. "Dolphy!" _Yes Yes I am here!_ She wanted to call out. She just couldn't. She let herself go.

She couldn't even answer the angel.

…

Amelia watched in horror as Dolphy was mugged and Cray ran away. There was nothing she could do. She had to stay and watch. He could hear Jim running towards her, running to try and save her, to avenge her pain, but could do nothing about it. She watched as Dolphy's body went limp. She couldn't be dead! No! No! No! _NO_!

She could only watched and not do anything.

…

Jim watched in anger as Cray attacked Dolphy. He ran as fast as he could. He called her name but she didn't answer. Nothing. Her body went limp and a new wave of anger flew through his body. As soon as he reached her body, he ignored Cray who was still running, and bent down towards Dolphy. "Dolphy? Dolphy can you hear me?" No answer. Her eyes were open, looking at him, but they were dead; lifeless. "Dolphy?!" He yelled again but there was still no answer.

"Amelia!" The cat, the other students, and WaterWing came running down as fast as their bodies would let them. Tears fell down his face and landed on her face. Everyone looked in horror at the broken girl. Jim wouldn't let anyone but himself and Amelia touch her. "Can you help her?" Amelia shook her head.

"I am not a doctor, Jim," she said, "I wish I could but I would only hurt her more." Jim's body vibrated in fury, pain, and suffering. Tears fell down his eyes like a waterfall. "I'm sorry." More tears. More pain. He had to do something to help her. There was silence. Deafening silence.

"_WaterWing can help_," she said. Her voice deafened Jim in the silence. "_Dracinus' blood has special healing properties. WaterWing can help!_" Jim watched in confusion as the creature ripped off a few scaled and dropped blue blood into Dolphy's mouth.

It all happened very slowly.

Dolphy's ruffled and knotted hair began to glow. Her skin grew a bluish tone to it, then violet, then gold, then back to blue and the pattern repeated. WaterWing's eyes were closed and her mouth moved slowly as if whispering something. Before their eyes, Dolphy's bones began to heal. Her breathing became easy and natural, her arm wasn't broken, and the bruises disappeared.

Then her eyes lit up.

"Jim?" she whispered. Her voice was coarse. Jim chuckled and smiled, pushing a stay brown hair from her eyes. A small smile pulled at her chapped lips. "Jim," she said again. Her hand came up, smooth as silk, and brushed against his cheek. The silk trailed from Jim's temple, down to his chin, then to his lips. He kissed her fingertips. "I am so sorry."

"Shh," he whispered as he shook his head with a smile. The tears continued to fall but these were tears of joy. "Don't talk. It's alright. You're safe." He moved into a position so he could rest her head in his lap. Their eyes held. "You're safe," he repeated.

"Where is Cray?"

"Gone. He ran away."

"What?" Her eyes grew wide and she bolted upright, not even slowly, but like a bullet. "Where? Which way?"

"Why?" Jim looked in the direction Cray ran and back to Dolphy. Dolphy caught the movement and stood up with ease as if filling up with power with every passing second. She took a step.

"My brother and I need a talk," she hissed not even looking him. Then she broke out in a run, as if she was never injured in the first place.

…

Cray was resting in a meadow. His breath was coming in short and fast breaths. He knew that she was going to come after him. If that happened, he knew that he was dead. She would want that revenge for all the pain he had put her in. He buried his face in his hands, scratched from sitting on the log he was on. He only had a matter of time before she would come.

Then she came.

She stood in the clearing like she was a warrior. Her skin was a luscious shade of peach; her eyes glowed like emeralds, and hair was as bright as the dying sky. What made her seem even more powerful was the fading sun, falling directly behind her. "Hello Cray," she hissed, speaking in his native tongue. He didn't say anything. His throat closed up. "How are you doing?" She took another step. "Oh and I am fine by-the-way." Another step. Cray gulped in fear and stood up. Yet another step. "Are you afraid of me, Cray?" He tried to take a step back but tripped on the log he was previously sitting on. "You were always a klutz."

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked. A wicked smile flashed on her face.

"Oh, something I wanted to do for a long, long time."

Then he screamed.

…

Jim heard the scream and smiled. She finally got her revenge. It would only be a matter of time before she would be back. Amelia had already called for help after her own wounds were healed. The pirates that had mutinied against them were tied in the brig of the ship with the help from WaterWing as well, who was waiting in a lake. Amelia promised to drop her off so she could soar in the sky. She was very happy about that. Jim smiled as he remembered the joyful cry the creature gave out.

Then she came back. There wasn't a single drop of blood on her too. "Are you alright?" he asked, standing up as soon as she was close.

"Yes. It's finally done." She angrily wiped away the tears that began to fall from her eyes. "It's done." Jim held her close, wrapping his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around his back as well. "What about you?"

"I'm fine." He smiled and pushed her away. "I have something I want to show you."

…

The water was cool and crisp. The dying light shone through the ripples in the water. Dolphy and Jim swam together in the cool and clear water, both with smiles on their faces. WaterWing danced around them happy to be in water again. Jim and Dolphy did a dance in the water to themselves.

They would be together forever.

…

**I am so sorry I haven't been able to put this up! I have been grounded from the computer, then softball, volleyball, school, my novel (which I am trying to get published), and my friends. Also I am moving within the month back to the states. Hope you enjoy! I am so sorry for the wait!**


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